Ever wondered about how Williams Sonoma started?…read more The Chuck Williams Culinary Art Museum houses the personal collection of the Williams Sonoma founder. Over four thousand artifacts that showcase the diversity, beauty and functionality of cookware, bakeware and kitchen tools. Interesting to see the wall filled with copper clad bundt pans. So many displays organized by theme and displayed beautifully. Gorgeous rolling pins. Butter molds. Coffee pots. Whisks. The historic kitchen displays are very interesting. The museum is located in the CIA, the Culinary Institute of America at Copia. Fortunately it is free as it is a very small museum. Perfect for a quick stop. Free parking is also available. Check out the large fork and the culinary garden while you are at the CIA if it is not in triple digits (like it was in October!!)

Bake Your Art Art…read moremuseum, of sorts, located inside the CIA** at Copia that features over 4,000 unique pieces is cookware, tools, appliances, and other unique culinary gadgets that have been collected thru the years. The Good: *Free! *Definitely interesting for those of us who enjoy cooking, gadgets, tools, and (D) all-of-the-above. The Meh: *While looking at this stuff is cool, it can only provide a certain level of entertainment. Read, it gets kinda boring after about 20 minutes. The Ugly: *The duck press is kinda wild. Read about it if you've never heard or seen one. Conclusion: Interesting for foodies and free, but don't expect to kill more than an hour here. **Culinary Institute of America, not that other CIA

What a lovely little gem of a building that takes you back in time. 3-4 rooms filled with old town…read morememorabilia and historical sales and product from the sugar factory next door. It was free to get in, but gently asks for donations to help support. Lots one star from me as I would have really liked more description information on the different items. Otherwise you really are not sure what you are looking at :(

This was a fun stop and the whole reason I made a trip to Crockett…read more They have a wild miscellany of city history, industrial equipment, hobbyist work, and local flavor. I think I spent about 45 minutes wandering through the place, which is probably plenty unless you read everything. But I definitely recommend it for anyone who is into tiny museums - about 4-5 rooms that used to be a train station. Sadly, there's not that much that has that train station feel. But aside from that, if you've never seen a cream separator, punch card sorter, or a scale model of the National Cathedral (D.C.) and want to, this is your place. Staffed by friendly, knowledgeable docents who take pride in Crockett's history.

We had a wonderful afternoon visit. The docents shared so much information. It was interesting and…read morefun. I have driven by for years and finally went in. So glad I did. Parking lot behind the house was so convenient too.

From beginning to end, the staff that help and manage the venue went above and beyond to make sure…read morewe were fully taken care of to use the facility for our wedding. My husband and I picked this venue to have our ceremony and reception. We rented the garden, the fireplace room, and the reception hall for the day. Sarah Jackson worked with us in the very beginning. Sarah was very responsive and communicative with us. For arranged times for reviewing the venue, set up and rehearsal, I and my party were late. The team with the venue was very flexible and very patient with us. We also had an unfortunate untimely passing of a party member before the wedding. Sarah and her team were very willing to be flexible with us and allow us time to reschedule if needed. My husband and I decided to move forward with the event at our scheduled time. We also received assistance on the day of the event, Liz DeLaCampa, who was very helpful and was lovely to work with. She was very communicative and very willing to be helpful. A disclaimer for catering and food: The kitchen does not have a place to cook. However, this venue is ideal for working with a food truck vendor that has their own kitchen for cooking and preparing food (which is what we did for catering). The kitchen does have a lot of storage space as needed for dishes, cups storing desserts and floral as needed. What we really liked about this venue is a lot of the basic things needed for an event are available such as indoor and outdoor chairs as well as tables. The team here is wonderful and this venue is highly recommended for an event with a small to medium size party. Highly recommended and they have packages that are available (and very reasonable) for parts of the venue (garden area, fireplace room, reception hall or all of the above). Thank you to the team again who were so helpful, so kind and very thoughtful. We will keep you in mind for future events!

Happy Veteran's Day!…read more It's no wonder Blue Star Moms did a Veteran's Day 5k after many successful years of the Stars and Stripes 5K on 4th of July in Concord (http://www.yelp.com/biz/stars-and-stripes-5k-concord?hrid=aVrY-VVM4k_l6DN8c-iQLA). 2014 was the first time my husband and I ran the Stars and Stripes, and we also volunteered to help with the Veteran's Day run a few months later. Linda Grahm coordinated our volunteer shift and made sure we knew where to go and what time to be where. We even received great long-sleeve shirts for volunteering. Casey and I were placed near each other on a 10k portion of the course. Everything was well-organized and the event seemed to go really smoothly, especially from a volunteer perspective. This was my first time volunteering with a 5k event - it was really nice to have snacks and drinks provided to the volunteers and participants. I'd love to run the race next year, but also really enjoyed helping out - it'll be hard to make that decision! Blue Star Moms: http://www.yelp.com/biz/contra-costa-blue-star-moms-concord?hrid=k9SzY8KRrfQrkRomTEhA5A

This 5k/10k started and ended at Hillcrest park. It was a fantastic day to run, the weather…read moreperfect and thankfully I was there to volunteer not run. We arrived at 7:30 in the morning to meet with the other volunteers to find out that where we were going to be stationed at and what we had to do. It was our first time as Volunteers at a 5k/10k and I really have to congratulate the Blue Star Moms who put on the event. Everything was well planned and organized and it made the race fun. We were given snacks before and after the race, and during the race we were informed of how many people were still running and how much longer they thought it was going to take.

I went to the 14th annual SF Bay Flyway Festival on Sun 2/7/10. It's a 3-day event, but only went…read moreone day. The Flyway Festival is a large birding event where you can look for birds, learn about Mare Island, go on boat tours that cost a lot of money, or do some FREE walks/hikes. We did some hikes: 9:30-12 Mare Island historic south shore hike w/ Sierra Club hike leader With Kenn Browne. Walk along the Historic Southshore of Mare Island out to Pier 35 for great views of the San Pablo Bay and Carquinez Strait. We'll see the original Mare Island where 150 years ago the U.S. Navy sited its first West Coast ammunition depot and shipyard. We'll pass under heron and osprey nests, not active until spring and summer, but expect resting and feeding waterbirds in the protected waters off the Mare Island Southshore Heritage Preserve. This is a level 4-mile roundtrip walk on paved and gravel roads in an area not yet open to public access. We walked to the Cemetery on our own & to the cool artwork "The Spirit Ship". Then from 1-3:30pm went on the Sears Point Cougar Mountain Hike - about 20 min drive from Mare Island. Hike up Cougar Mountain with Justin Whitfield, URS Corp. Biologist, to learn about grassland ecology, the Sears Point Restoration, explore vernal pools, and take in the wonderful views of San Pablo Bay to San Francisco, Mt. Diablo, and Mt. Tam on a clear day. Meet at the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters. Cool on the top for nice views & lots of sheep w/ pond on the top of the mtn. Google: SF Bay Flyway Festival - usually around Feb 7-9 or whatever

The Hess Collection Winery 4411 Redwood Road Napa CA 94558 (877) 707-HESS (4377) Open 10 am to 4 pm…read moredaily This winery is off the beaten path, and displays an ever changing and solid modern art collection that makes a stop there, along with the wine, a pleasant experience.

Outstanding experience period. These folks really know how to treat people. Very different…read moreexperience from the other vineyards with an interesting art collection and media rooms to help the novice and others better understand the process. A 5 star experience and a must see. Don't miss this one. Thx to Sue our guide for her red carpet treatment.

********************* 1171 ********************* This…read morewas the 27th Annual Chocolate & Wine Event - Supporting Napa County Foster, Kincare & Adoptive Kids. Honorable Jill Techel, Napa Mayor;Lee Schwab, Investor and Kari Ruel, Publisher/Editor Napa Valley Life Magazine were all there. It was held at the Westin Verasa on Sunday Oct 26th 2014, from 3 - 6 PM - Food was catered by: Ken Frank, chef, La Toque. the Michelin Star restaurants, small bites, charcuteries & sandwich were served. Along with another 30 plus chocolate vendors, and some local restaurants such as Bouchon Bakery, Dean & Deluca, Jelly Belly, Fera Wyn's Artisan chocolate, Harry & David, Ca'Momi Restaurant, Scharffen Berger, Batch & Barrel, Cocoa Dolce, Napa valley fudge Co, Ristorante Allegria and more; there was so much goodness in 1 place. Live music music by: Kellie Fuller was playing in the courtyard at the Westin Verasa Napa Valley, - Serenades from the Great American Songbook. Historically, this event attracts over 400 chocolate & wine lovers from the Bay Area. "This is the combination of the regions finest wines, best chocolates, and the desire to support the well-being of our children that makes this event so special. We typically have 30 wineries and 30 chocolatiers serving." said Doris Gentry, Event Chair. More than 30 wineries were there, Harball Cellar, Ceja Vineyards, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Peju Winery, Michael Mondavi Estate, Sequoia Grove Winery, ZD Wines, Black Stallion Estate Winery, and so much more award winning wineries joined this cause, as well as silent auction were donated by wineries, chocolate, restaurants, and hotels in Napa Valley. The Napa County Foster Parents have, for over 50 years, led the way in building awareness, providing education, and inspiring hope to those involved in the effort of preventing child abuse and neglect and thus breaking the cycle of violence that occurs from generation to generation. Below is a partial list of confirmed wineries and chocolatiers donating to this cause - this is a major Napa event - it was a great event with so much food, wines, music, and all for a GREAT CAUSE. Website - www.napachocolateandwine.com This was my 1st event, and it was very well organized by over 50 volunteers, 100% proceed goes to Napa County Foster Kids http://napafostercom.fatcow.com/ I'm looking forward to the next 28th Annual Chocolate & Wine Tasting benefiting Napa County Children.

Great live theater productions. Vary creative. Seeing Pride & Prejudice. In 2 parts. It's great!…read moreJust have to say it...going to Butterfields 8's production of Pride and Prejudice let me escape for 2 days into another world. The Bennett family was so well played and so real, as we're the other characters...I was there in the moment the entire time. What an escape. It was like being at a PBS production in person. Thank you!